Arizona MESA

MESA

Various Pasta Activities

Spaghetti Bridge Contest
Build a bridge out of spaghetti and Elmer's white glue that will hold 1 kg for a minimum of 10 minutes. The bridge that weighs the least and does not break wins.

Dimensions:
Bridge must weigh no more than 200 grams (about 1/2 pound of pasta) and be 50 cm long
(Hint: To make pasta stronger, boil for 30 minutes and then stretch out to dry. This takes out the starch and makes the pasta less brittle.)

Pasta Bridge Team Building
Teams of four students have 2.5 hours to build their bridge (this may be accomplished in several class periods if necessary by having a definite start and finish team each period). Using lasagna and spaghetti, teams build a bridge that can hold the most weight compared to its own weight.

House of Pasta
Build the tallest free standing tower from 100 pieces of spaghetti and 100 tiny marshmallows.
(Hint: Give students a time limit.)

Spaghetti Bridge
Divide students into groups of two. Give each group 50 pieces of spaghetti--no more--and allow them 40 minutes to build a bridge.
(Hint: Most students determine that they need to use saliva to "glue" the spaghetti together.)

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